


The mark on your skin

by dreamynina



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alice and Hal are in a happy relationship, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, basically all the crazy things in Riverdale never happened, varchie and bughead never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:33:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25364668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamynina/pseuds/dreamynina
Summary: In a world, where people get a soulmark on their 18th birthday things could be so easy. But not in Riverdale.Archie Andrews doesn't like soulmates or soulmarks. It's a fact and he has his reasons. Betty Cooper knows that, but even though she thinks the opposite, they are still best friends and just made a silent pact, to never bring up that topic.But what happens when they turn 18 and things go the wrong way?orAn alternate universe in which soulmarks show you who your soulmate is
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper
Comments: 23
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

Betty glanced out of her window, frowning, to see if she could spot Archie's face in his window. But the room was dark, and she assumed that he was working out or something like that. 

She sighed disappointed, grabbed her diary and lay down on her bed to write her thoughts into it.

Archie has been acting different lately. Most of the time he had seemed stressed, tensed up and tired. 

She had asked him about it, but he had lied and told her, that football training was just exhausting at the moment. As if she couldn't read him like an open book and tell that he was lying. 

She knew him since they were four years old, so of course she could tell when he was lying and when he was telling the truth. But she had acted like she didn't notice, because she accepted it. She didn't want to force him to talk about it.

Knowing Archie, pressuring him to talk about something usually annoyed him and made him even more taciturn about it, so she had decided against doing that.

But she had assumptions about his unusual behaviour. His 18th birthday was next month, and while other people would be excited for it, Archie wasn't.

In this world, the 18th birthday was special in many ways. It wasn't just becoming an adult and being able to drink alcohol and stuff like that. It also meant getting a so-called "soulmark". 

Soulmarks were mysterious. They were small little marks, appearing on someone's skin on their 18th birthday. 

It was impossible to tell, where exactly it would appear or how it would look. Soulmarks could appear anywhere on someone's body and each one was unique and special. 

Besides you, there is only one person in the entire world who has the same soulmark on their skin. Your soulmate, the one person who fits you perfectly and better than anyone else in this world.

In a perfect world, everyone would find their soulmate eventually. But unfortunately, this world wasn't perfect. It had occured in some cases, that people never met their soulmate or that their soulmate had died before they could meet. In most cases those people had still found a partner, that could make them happy. But probably not "soulmate-happy".

It was making Betty sad, to think about that, because she wouldn't know how to feel, if that happened to her. She had always wanted to find her soulmate, since she has been a little child. 

She has even daydreamed about it, and if she was being honest, she still did that sometimes. She would think about the way she would meet her soulmate and imagine how they discover their matching soulmarks.

To her it had always seemed romantic and somehow easy, to be able to find your soulmate with a little mark on your skin. A lot of things in life were difficult and complicated, but that one thing, it could be easy. 

It has been pretty easy for Jughead and Veronica. Jughead had turned 18 last year and he got his soulmark on his wrist. He hadn't known anyone with that soulmark and he has always kept an eye open for his soulmate.

But he didn't succeed with that, until Veronica turned 18 at the beginning of this year. At that time she had still been dating Reggie, and both, Jughead and Veronica had been more than surprised, when they discovered that they were soulmates.

So they had a conversation about it. They both weren't as in love with the soulmate thing as Betty was, but they both still believed in it, so they decided to give it a try.

Veronica had a conversation with Reggie and explained everything to him and broke up with him. She and Reggie hadn't been dating for long, Reggie was still hurt, but he accepted it.

It may seemed cruel, but in this world it was normal to break up with your partner, as soon as you discover your soulmate.

So Jughead and Veronica went on a few dates and completely fell for each other. And they've been dating ever since.

It could be that simple and beautiful. Betty wanted something like that, too. She wanted to just meet her soulmate and completely fall in love with them.

However, Archie Andrews didn't think that way. Even though they've never talked about it, she knew that he didn't like the soulmate thing. It's just been the way he always tensed up and flinched, when someone brought up that subject.

So she had avoided that topic with him since they were children. It was like they had made a silent pact, to never speak about it and since the beginning of their friendship, she had never broken that pact.

But now that his 18th birthday was getting closer, she was wondering, how he was going to manage it.  
  
People would ask questions about his soulmark eventually and it would be difficult, to avoid that topic forever.

She had thought about him and the soulmate thing. About possible reasons for him to dislike it. But she couldn't figure it out.

To her, there was nothing about it that could be disliked or even hated. 

Hate was probably the wrong word. In the beginning, in the earlier years of their friendship, that word was probably quite fitting. But in those past few years, every time that topic had been brought up, she had seen something like fear in Archie's eyes, as if it was pestering him. And even as if he despised it.

It almost seemed like it was a burden to him and she had tried to protect him from it every time. Because she hated seeing him like that. 

It was almost as if she was feeling his pain and fear in her own body and in those situations she would try everything to change the topic.

But now, his 18th birthday being next month, she wasn't sure anymore. What could she do to help him? He wouldn't even talk to her about it, so she didn't know what she could do.

She wouldn't directly ask him, she had decided that already. But she would be lying if she said, that she didn't want to know why he disliked the soulmate thing.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was slowly setting and there was still sunlight shining through the windows of the Pop's. The atmosphere was so calm in here, in some ways even peaceful with the music in the background and some of their neighbours or classmates sitting in the booths of the Pop's.

Betty looked around and spotted Toni and Cheryl in one booth, Kevin and Fangs in another one. Betty was sitting in a booth next to Archie, Jughead and Veronica sitting in front of them. 

Jughead had put his arm around Veronica's shoulders and Betty smiled a little.

Jughead and Veronica were grinning at each other and she whispered something into his ear, that made him chuckle and she grinned sheepishly.

It made total sense, that they had the same soulmarks and were soulmates. It could be that simple in this world.

"So, you're turning 18 soon, Archie." Veronica said, turning to face him and she sipped on her milkshake. 

Betty could feel Archie tensing up next to her, even though she couldn't see him, she just knew and somehow felt that he did. She touched his arm reassuringly. He glanced at her and his expression softened a little. She took her hand off his arm, relieved.

She knew, that he didn't want to talk about his 18th birthday. About the day he would get his soulmark.

"Yes." he replied shortly, avoiding to make eye contact with anyone.

"What are we doing on your special day? Aren't you excited about getting your soulmark? You could make a big reveal during the party." Veronica said excitedly and Betty flinched slightly and tried to tell Veronica through her eyes, to change the topic. But Veronica didn't notice. She just smiled.

It was not Veronica's fault. They have never specifically talked about how they all thought about soulmates and soulmarks. 

Even though the topic did come up when Veronica and Jughead discovered that they had the same soulmark, Archie hadn't participated in that conversation. So there was no way for Veronica to know.

Betty and Jughead exchanged a look and Betty was pleading him with her eyes, to do something.

But Jughead looked just as helpless as she did. Betty tried to come up with something, just to change the topic, but her head felt empty and she didn't know what she could say.

"I don't know if I want to have a party." Archie answered and Veronica raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"What? Why? Getting a soulmark is a once in a lifetime experience." Veronica explained and looked at Betty questioningly. Betty shook her head slightly, to symbolize to Veronica to stop the questions.

"I'm not really in the mood." Archie replied and took a sip from his vanilla milkshake.

"You will be, Archie. Just tell me if you want a party, I'll organize it all." Veronica offered and Betty squeezed her eyes shut.

But luckily, Archie seemed calm and merely shrugged it off.

"You guys do realize, that we're graduating this year, do you?" Jughead suddenly said and Betty let out a breath, she hadn't even noticed she'd been holding.

"You're so right, I just can't believe it." Veronica replied and looked at Jughead. Betty raised an eyebrow, she wondered, if Jughead and Veronica were going to have a long distance relationship.

"This is really our last year together." Betty muttered, deeply in thoughts.

"Well, we can still visit each other." Archie responded and Betty looked up at him. He was still staring at his milkshake.

"It won't be the same, though." Veronica threw in and Betty had to agree with that.

"I guess we'll just have to enjoy this year as much as we can." Jughead said.

The rest of the time they just talk about insignificant stuff, but Betty noticed how silent Archie remained the whole time. He was deeply in his thoughts and Betty wondered, what he was thinking about. She guessed, that it was his 18th birthday.

When she walked home with him, he still seemed a little tense and he didn't say anything. And she didn't try to start a conversation, she just walked beside him silently, enjoying the view and staring at the trees. It was a comfortable silence, not an awkward one, but she could tell that he was thinking about the soulmate thing. So was she.

She was wondering, why he despised soulmates that much. It wasn't the first time she had wondered about this.

He had never told her about it and she hadn't asked him, but now that he would get his soulmark soon, a part of her wondered about it, but still, she would never ask him. She wanted to leave it to him to tell her, and if he decided against it, she would accept it without complaining.

When they arrived in front of her house he grabbed her wrist and turned her towards him, so that she could face him.

She looked up at him questioningly, with one raised eyebrow. He looked into her eyes and suddenly he just pulled her into a tight hug.

She was surprised at first, but then she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. She closed her eyes and it felt like they were hugging for hours, but she wouldn't complain, it was a really comfortable hug. But then they let go of each other.

"Thank you, for not forcing me to talk about it." he said and she could see the gratitude in his eyes. She immediately knew, what he meant by "it".

She smiled at him softly. "Of course."

"Good night, Betty." he said then and smiled a little.

"Good night, Arch." she replied and turned to walk into her house.

She could feel his gaze on her back and she turned around one last time. He really was still looking at her and she waved at him, before entering the Cooper's house.

Her parents were watching a movie in the living room and they waved at her shortly. Betty waved back and smiled. Her parents were soulmates too and it was beautiful to see how happy they still were together. She walked up to her room and closed the door behind her.

Then she grabbed her phone and called Veronica, who picked up quickly.

"Hey B, is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." Betty replied reassuringly. "There is just something we should talk about.", Betty started and Veronica didn't say anything, waiting for her to go on.

"It's about Archie." she continued and contemplated her next sentences.

"He was acting weird today at Pop's, don't you think? I mean, not wanting a birthday party for his 18th birthday seems odd.", Veronica said and Betty could hear the confusion in her voice.

"It's exactly about that, V. Uhm... I don't really know how to say this." Betty hesitated and Veronica waited for her to go on.

"Archie doesn't like soulmates."

Veronica remained silent for a few seconds. "What do you mean with 'Archie doesn't like soulmates'? What's there not to like?"

Betty frowned a little, unsure of how to explain it. "Uhm... he's just not a fan of the whole soulmark and soulmate thing. He doesn't like the idea of it." Betty elaborated.

"He doesn't like the idea of having a soulmate?" Veronica repeated.

"Yes, he's a little sensitive about it, I guedd. So it would be the best to just avoid the topic." Betty added and played with the hem of her shirt.

Veronica remained silent for a while. "Okay." she replied simply. "Thank you for telling me." she added and Betty smiled.

"You're welcome." Betty replied.

"So, I'll avoid the topic in the future." she said then.

"That's good. I'll see you on monday at school, but now I'm a little exhausted."

"Yes. Good night, B. Love you." Veronica replied.

"Good night. Love you, too, V." Betty hung up and put her phone aside. She let herself fall onto her mattress, relieved that the conversation went so well.

But she knew, sooner or later Archie would have to face his 18th birthday and the soulmark he would get. And she knew, he was going to hate that day and she wished she could take that burden away from him. Because for him, that's what the soulmark symbolized, a burden.

***

The next week, while studying with Archie, she noticed how unconcentrated and unfocused he is. He couldn't focus on one single task and she frowned at him.

Normally, he was pretty focused because he really wanted to graduate with good grades, but not today.

"I'm sorry, Betty." Archie said remorseful and Betty closed her textbook slowly.

"I'm just having a bad week." he said then.

"No worries." she replied as unbothered as possible.

Archie rubbed his temple and closed his eyes, as if everything was getting too much. She got up quickly and sat down onto his bed, next to him.

"Hey." she whispered quietly and he took his hands off his face, looking at her despairingly.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

He slowly shook his head and she just took his hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"Have I ever told you why I don't like the soulmate thing?" he asked suddenly and Betty's eyes widened. She hadn't expected that question.

"No, you didn't." She bit on her bottom lip. She has never dared to ask him about it, he had always tensed up when someone brought up the topic and sometimes he had even looked like he couldn't bear hearing it.

"Right." Archie said shortly and looked down at his carpet.

Betty had whitnessed almost everything in Archie's life. They have been friends for what feels like forever so there weren't a lot of things Betty didn't know about Archie Andrews. But the reason, why he hated soulmates was even a secret to her.

Archie doesn't say anything anymore and she just sits beside him and waits. She felt a little out of place, as if she was invading his privacy.

"Look, I can go if you want to have some time alone. We can study next week or whenever you're feeling better." she offered but he shook his head slowly.

"No, could you just... stay for a moment?" he asked with a beseeching look in his eyes.

"Of course." she replied and smiled at him softly. He smiled back, but it wasn't really a happy smile.

They both remained silent for about five minutes.

"You like the idea of soulmates, don't you?" he suddenly asked and looked up at her

Betty swallowed and she hesitated, she didn't know if it was a good idea to talk with him about her opinion on soulmates.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to talk about this." she replied honestly, fearing to make him upset.

"It's okay, Betty. I'd like to hear your opinion on it."

Betty inhaled deeply, thinking about her next sentences. Her opinion was entirely different from his. To her it has always seemed romantic to have one person in the world who fits you better than anyone else. And she couldn't wait for her soulmark to appear and to find that person.

"I'm really looking forward to getting my soulmark and finding my soulmate." she started and watched Archie's face warily. 

His face didn't show any signs of disappointment. "I mean, I really want to spend my life with my soulmate."

Archie didn't say anything, he seemed lost in thoughts and Betty let him. So she just stared at his carpet, not knowing what to do with herself.

"I really don't want to turn 18." he admitted sudenly and Betty twisted her neck, so she could look into his face. There was fear in his eyes and Betty's heart ached a little. She hated seeing him like that, but there was not really something she could do to help him or make it easier for him.

"There's nothing I can do to stop it." he muttered and again, Betty didn't know what to say. She felt so helpless and wished, she could help him. It was like she could feel his pain and fear in her own chest, and she didn't like it.

"No, you can't. But, the soulmark, it doesn't force you to do anything. It's just something that appears on your skin." Betty explained and squeezed his hand another time.

"You're right, but what if my soulmate expects something from me? Expects me to spend my life with them?" he asked.

Betty was a little baffled, but she knew what she could respond. "If they are your soulmate, they won't and they would understand."

He looked at her and he looked a little relieved, but incredibly tired.

"When was the last time you slept?" she asked suddenly, inspecting his face.

"I didn't sleep a lot lately."

"Maybe you should get some rest. Try to sleep for a few hours." she advised and he nodded. Betty got up and gathered her belongings together while Archie watched her.

"Do you think you know your soulmate?" he asked suddenly and Betty froze in her movement.

If she was being honest to herself, she has thought about it a lot. And a part of her has thought that it could be Archie. Probably because she has had a huge crush on him for a really long time. But now, she just hoped that he wasn't.

She straightened her back and turned around to face him. "No, I don't think so." she replied and he just nodded.

She was about to ask him the same, but she stopped herself before the words could escape her lips. So she just gave him a little smile and continued packing her school stuff into her bag.

She was really curious though. When she was done with packing, she turned to face him one more time. He was still just staring at his carpet. 

Betty walked up to him and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "Just get some rest, Arch. If you need anything, I'm just one phone call away." she said and he looks up at her and smiled.

Then he put his hand onto hers, which was still resting on his shoulder. "You are the best, have I ever told you?"

She beamed. "You are, too." she replied smiling and slowly pulled her hand away from his shoulder.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Arch." she said then and he nodded absent-mindedly. And with that, she exited his room and his house.


	3. Chapter 3

Betty was stirring her cereals absent-mindedly. Since Archie had asked her, if she thought whether she knew her soulmate or not, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

What if she did and they didn't get along or even hated each other? Or what if they weren't interested in her and she wasn't in them? Betty knew, it wasn't a crime to not end up with your soulmate, but she had always wanted to and she felt like she'd be really disappointed if that dream didn't come true.

"Are you with me, Betty?" Alice asked and waved with her hand to get Betty's attention. Betty flinched a little.

Normally her father would sit here with them. But today he was in Greendale with Polly and her new husband James, to help them with moving into their new house.

Betty straightened her back and gave her mother a little smile. "Yes, of course I'm with you. I'm sorry." Betty said apologetically and Alice waved her hand airily.

"It's fine." she assured Betty and Betty sighed, relieved that her mother wasn't upset.

"What were you saying?" Betty asked then, since she had missed her mother's last sentences.

"Nothing important." Alice shrugged. "What were you thinking about? You seemed like you were lost in another world." Betty grimaced at that.

"About soulmates." she drawled then and Alice smiled warmly.

"You've always liked to think about them, haven't you?" Betty tensed up a little. She knew she was probably overreacting, but somehow that little question made her think of something she'd prefer not to think about.

"Yes, I do." she mumbled, trying desperately to calm down and not to think about what her mother's words really meant. She knew that her mother had changed and stopped reading her diaries, but it was still a sensitive topic to her.

"That's fine. It's not a bad thing to think about them." Alice said, clearly misunderstanding Betty's reaction. But Betty appreciated her mom's attempt to make her feel better and shd took a few deep breaths.

Then something came into her mind. "Mom, can I ask you something about soulmates?" she asked and Alice nodded immediately.

"Of course, Betty." she replied and Betty was content with that reply.

"What did you think about soulmates when you were my age?" she asked and she was extremely curious. It surprised her, that she hadn't asked her that before.

Alice seemed surprised and Betty could tell, that she was thinking. Betty gave her that time and finished her bowl of cereal. "Of course I don't remember it that well or detailed anymore. And I was different than you are, when I was your age." Alice started and Betty gave a short nod. "But if I remember correctly, I didn't really care about them."

Betty understood that, but it was surprising that her mother did end up with her soulmate after all. "You know, I just didn't care and I didn't care about whether I would meet them or not." Alice amended.

"What was dad's opinion on them?" Betty asked.

Alice laughed. "Funnily, he was thinking the same way."

Betty raised her eyebrows and frowned. "It's kind of funny that you two still ended up together." she pointed out and Alice chuckled and Betty smiled at that. It made her happy to see how well they got along now.

"You're right, but it took us a long time to get together."

"You two never told me how and when exactly you got together. Basically I only know that you are soulmates and happily married." Betty noted and Alice nodded shortly.

It may sound surprising that Betty had never asked about it. But before this year she and her mother had had a bad relationship. Really bad. Alice used to read Betty's diary, tried to control her life and put a lot of pressure on her. Alice even used to make her take those pills.

But fortunately their relationship had improved a lot after a long conversation with Hal and Alice had realized how bad her behaviour was for Betty. So she had slowly stopped and their relationship and Betty's mental health had improved after going to a therapist.

"You're right, I never did. Do you want to know?" she asked and Betty nodded.

"Of course I do." she replied and grinned. Alice smiled back.

"Well, we went to the same high school, but we barely knew each other at first. We had different friend groups and just didn't cross paths. He was a football player and really popular and I was just a girl from the south side and I was a serpent." Alice inhaled deeply and made a sour face. Betty knew that her mother didn't like to remember the time she was a southside serpent.

"Anyways," Alice continued. "we talked for the first time, after I left the southside serpents and joined the cheerleader squad. It was before a football game, everything was chaotic and we accidentally ran into each other, it was the first time we really noticed each other. We just apologized and laughed and then our ways parted." Alice paused.

"Knowing each other since high school and getting married later in life sounds incredibly romantic." Betty commented and Alice smiled fondly.

"Well, it looks like Jughead and Veronica could end up the same way your father and I did. Just that they found their way to each other way earlier." Alice said and Betty smiled.

"Maybe, they both definitely deserve it." Betty amended. "You haven't finished your story yet." she said then.

"Right, after that we bumped into each other another time, in the school corridor. Funnily, a few weeks after, we became lab partners and somehow we got along quite well and just became really close friends. But after leaving for college we lost contact. It's hard to stay in contact when you're in college and make new friends."

Betty had to cut in. " What happened when you two got your soulmarks?" she asked.

Alice laughed. "That was kind of funny, I guess. When he turned 18 he threw a party and he invited me too, of course. After his friends kept bugging him about it, he showed it. But since I didn't really care about soulmarks, I didn't bother memorizing it. So of course I didn't realize that ours matched when I turned 18. I just knew that I've seen it before." Alice explained and Betty was furrowing her eyebrows.

"Wow." was everything she said and her mother laughed.

"What happened after college?" Betty asked.

"Well, I stayed in New York for a few years, but then I got homesick and returned to Riverdale. And we ran into each other at Pop's, when I was about to grab my order." Alice chuckled. "So we exchanged our new phone numbers and became friends again. And I guess we plainly fell in love after that. We had the soulmate talk a few weeks after we started going out and that was when we discovered that our soulmarks were matching. Guess how surprised we were."

The soulmate talk was something people who weren't dating their soulmates had to have with their partners at some point. Mostly when the relationship was becoming serious. They would have to discuss, what would happen, if one of their soulmates showed up and whether the other person wanted to find their soulmate

Betty's original question came back into her mind. "Mom, I have one more question. Before you and dad discovered that you were soulmates, were there any signs that you were? I mean besides the soulmark."

Alice looked surprised. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I think we had a really special bond, even back in high school. It's difficult to describe, but I guess all soulmates have that." Alice shrugged.

"A special bond? Sounds interesting." Betty commented.

"It's difficult to explain. It's some kind of connection that you have with no one else. Sometimes it was just like I knew what he was thinking or simple things like knowing how he would react to certain things. We had some deep kind of trust and understanding, I guess." Alice elaborated.

"That sounds a lot like a really good friendship. What's the difference?" Betty pointed out and Alice sighed. Betty shrugged apologetically.

"It was different than all the friendships I had. I didn't realize it back then, but now that I'm thinking about it, it was entirely different from the best friendship I had, even though I didn't know it back then." Alice explained and Betty thought about her words.

Betty's closest friend was Archie, even though she didn't feel like the word 'close friend' was enough to describe their friendship. If she and her soulmate would have a stronger bond than she had with Archie... she couldn't even imagine that. But she decided that she just had to be patient and wait for her soulmate to find her.

"I can't wait to have that soulmate bond with someone." Betty confessed and Alice smiled warmly.

"Who knows? Maybe you'll meet your soulmate soon." Betty smiled back. "Or maybe you know them already." Alice amended and winked.

Betty narrowed her eyes in doubt. "Do you have someone in mind?" she asked doubtfully..

Alice shrugged and drank some of her coffee. "No, just saying." she responded then.

"Alright." Betty got up from the table and grabbed her finished bowl of cereal, to put it into the dishwasher.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Alice asked and turned around to face Betty.

Betty leaned against the kitchen counter. "Not really, I guess I'll just do some homework. Or read some books."

"Sounds fun." Alice commented dryly and Betty snorted.

"And do you have plans?" she asked.

"I'll just enjoy my day and relax." Alice replied and Betty nodded.

"I'll go up to my room." she informed her mother and after Alice nodded, Betty left the dining room, heading up to her bedroom.

She let herself fall onto her bed, rubbing her temples for a few seconds. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep that night, because she'd been a little stressed about homework.

She crawled to the other side of her bed, to reach her school bag. She fished some textbooks, some pencils and some paper out of the bag. Since she was graduating this year, she had to put a lot more effort into studying. Even though Yale accepted her already, she wouldn't let her good grades drop. 

Betty got up and walked over to her mirror and grabbed some hair ties, to put her hair into a messy bun. After that she walked back to her bed and started studying.

She had been studying for a few hours, when there was a sudden knock on her door. She looked up from her textbook, surprised. "Come in, mom." she called back and the door opened.

To Betty's surprise it wasn't Alice standing in her doorframe. "Jughead?" she called. She quickly got up from her bed to hug him. He hugged her back.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, after she had stepped back.

"I wanted to ask if you're up for lunch? We could get something from Pop's?" he suggested.

"With Veronica and Archie?"

"No, Veronica is going shopping with her mom and Archie wasn't home." Jughead replied.

Betty raised an eyebrow. "So, I was your last choice?"

Jughead gulped and Betty grinned. "Of course not." Jughead denied. "Originally I wanted to have lunch with all of you."

"Mmhm." Betty made and Jughead just rolled his eyes.

"So, what do you think? Lunch?"

Betty glanced back at her opened textbooks. Then she turned back to Jughead. "I could definitely use a break." she decided then and Jughead smiled.

"Great, I'll wait downstairs for you, so you can fix your hair." he said teasingly.

"Thanks." she replied dryly. Jughead grinned and turned around to go down the stairs. Betty sighed and massaged her temples, keeping her eyes closed for a moment. Then she stretched out her limbs.

She walked over to her mirror and pulled the hair ties out of the messy bun. She quickly tied her hair into a low ponytail and stuffed some money into her purse.

Jughead, as he had promised, was waiting for her by the door, tapping with his foot. Betty huffed. "I'm ready." she said.

"Good." he said and opened the door to walk out. Betty followed and closed the door behind her. "So, how was your week?" she asked, not really knowing what to talk about. She and Jughead weren't that close.

"Smalltalk, huh?" he huffed and Betty rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Obviously." she said with a shrug.

Jughead grinned slyly. "Anyways, it was pretty good, my father managed to not drink any alcohol for almost a year now." Jughead told her and Betty smiled.

"I'm so happy for you, Jug! That's great."

Jughead nodded. "It is." he agreed and they fell back into the silence. They knew each other and they were quite good friends, but it's been such a long time since they had hung out alone the last time.

"And how was yours?" Jughead asked then. 

Betty shrugged. "Normal, I guess."

Jughead gave her a nod and slid his hands into his pockets. "Well, how did studying with Archie go?"

Betty sighed. "He wasn't feeling really well." she replied, when they reached the diner. Jughead opened the door for them and they walked up to their usual booth.

"He hasn't been feeling well for weeks now." Jughead mumbled and Betty nodded.

"I have no idea how to help him." she admitted, but before Jughead could respond anything, the waiter stopped at their booth to take the orders. She ordered a chocolate milkshake and some fries and Jughead ordered a burger and a vanilla milkshake.

"I don't know either." Jughead muttered, after the waiter had left.

Betty contemplated, whether she should ask her question or not, it would invade Archie's privacy. But she needed to know if Jughead knew. "Did Archie ever talk to you about soulmates?" she blurted out and bit into her bottom lip.

Jughead looked up surprisedly. Then he shook his head. "Never. Whenever I mentioned it he would react weirdly and change the topic as quickly as possible.bSo after a while I stopped bringing it up."

Jughead remained silent for a second. "What about you? Did he talk to you about it?

Betty leaned back frustrated and shook her head. Jughead snorted. "If he didn't even talk to you about, why would he with me?" Betty shrugged.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't respect his privacy. I just want to help him, so bad. But how can I help him if I don't even know, why I need to help him?" she said and Jughead nodded understandingly.

"I guess all we can do, is being there for him."

"And avoid the topic as good as possible?"

Jughead nodded. "By the way, thank you for telling Veronica. I should have thought about it earlier, but I guess I lost sight of the fact that she didn't know."

Betty just gave him a nod. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened." she said.

"Yes, but Archie won't be able to avoid it forever, you know? I mean, there's going to be a mark on his skin reminding himabout it for the rest of his life. And people are going to ask questions, it's simply the world we're living in."

Betty inhaled deeply. "Maybe he won't notice it right away. It could spare him the stress for a few more days." she said, with no actual hope.

"He definitely will. If he is asleep while it appears, it will definitely wake him up." Jughead said and Betty narrowed her eyes at him, confused.

"What do you mean? Why would he wake up?"

Jughead raised his eyebrows at her, looking confused. "Ohh, I understand. It actually stings a little when it appears and the skin where it appears heatens up. But only for about one or two minutes." Jughead explained.

Suddenly the waiter appeared and placed their orders on their table. "Thank you." Betty and Jughead said and the waiter disappeared.

Jughead pulled his milkshake and food closer to him and took a sip of the milkshake.

"So," Betty drawled, "it stings that bad that you wake up from it? I mean, I've read that it stings a little bit, I never expected it to be that intense."

Jughead nodded. "It hurts enough for you to wake up if you're not an extremely heavy sleeper." he added and Betty cocked her head to the side. That information was new to her.

Archie wasn't a heavy sleeper, so if he was asleep then, he would most likely wake up from it. Betty doubted that he'd be able to sleep that night anyways. "That's how you know where your soulmark is?" Betty asked incredulously.

Jughead tilted his head to the side. "Well yeah, mostly. If you overslept it you can also look for it." he replied and bit into his burger.

"What time did yours appear?"

"Mine? Around 2 am, but it's different for everyone." he replied.

"I know. It's always between midnight and 3 am." she said and Jughead nodded.

Betty ate a few of her fries. She usually loved the fries here, but somehow her appetite was gone.

***

The students lounge was unusually empty, but since Betty needed to focus on her homework anyways, she didn't mind that at all.

She had to finish the homework today, so she could hand it in in three days. It was an essay, so she had to plan a few days ahead.

Betty looked around her, she had always liked the students lounge. The furniture fit together really well and the whole lounge seemed warm, cozy and welcoming. It was probably her favourite place in the whole school and she knew she would miss hanging out with her friends in here after graduating.

Suddenly the door opened and Betty looked up, seeing Veronica entering the lounge.

Her face lit up, when she spotted Betty on the sofa and she let herself fall into the armchair next to Betty.

"I was looking for you literally everywhere." Veronica exaggerated and Betty smiled softly.

A sly grin appeared on Veronica's face and Betty quickly closed her textbook and put her pen aside, preparing herself for listening to whatever Veronica had to tell her.

"Well, you found me. Why exactly were you looking for me?"

Veronica folded her hands in her lap and cleared her throat. Betty raised an amused eyebrow at that and Veronica just grinned.

"So, I was thinking about Archie's birthday." Veronica started and Betty nodded in understanding. She was curious about what Veronica had to say about that.

"I think we should throw him a party." Betty raised her eyebrows. 

"He said he wasn't in the mood for one. So I don't think he would agree." Betty pointed out, surprised about Veronica's words. It's been a week since Betty had told Veronica about Archie disliking the soulmate thing and Betty had assumed that Veronica had let it go.

"A surprise party." Veronica amended and Betty frowned at that.

"V, I don't know if-" Betty started, but Veronica cut in.  
"Look, the thing is, since he doesn't like soulmates and soulmarks and all, I think a surprise party with his close friends could distract him." Veronica elaborated and gesticulated with her hands.

Betty contemplated it silently, but she wasn't convinced of him actually liking a surprise party. She even doubted him liking one.

"Do you really think he would like it?" Betty asked unsure.

"I believe he will. I'll get some alcohol and some fun games." Veronica told her and grinned.

"I'm 17, so I guess I'm not invited?" Betty quipped and Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Of course you'll be invited, B. You're not only my best friend but also his. Besides, you're planning it with me." Veronica replied.

"And about the alcohol thing, as long as your parents don't know, everything is fine. I could also get you something lighter or you'll just drink something non-alcoholic." Veronica winked at her and Betty laughed.

"What about Mr Andrews? Have you asked him already? I don't know if he'll like to have teenagers partying at his house." Betty noted and she knew she was probably being a party-pooper, but at this point she hardly cared.

"Well," Veronica drawled, "I'll have to ask Mr Andrews, but he's a cool dad so I'm sure he'll be fine with it." She sounded convinced.

Betty just nodded. Still, she wasn't really convinced of the plan. Archie would get his soulmark on that day, he was going to hate it and she was pretty sure he wouldn't like to see anyone.

Luckily Archie's birthday would be on a saturday, so he wouldn't have to go to school, but would he really enjoy a party? Betty wasn't so sure. She assumed that he would want to stay home the whole day and be alone.

"Please, B. I'm sure he's going to feel better surrounded by his friends, than being alone." Veronica pleaded and Betty sighed heavily.

"Well, I guess you can just do it." she replied and Veronica snorted.

"That's the lamest 'yes' I've ever gotten." she teased and Betty had to smile.

"I'm sorry, V." she said and shrugged.

"You can make it up to me by spending the whole day with Archie." Veronica replied and smiled cheekily.

"So you want me to distract him?" Betty raised an eyebrow.

"I NEED you to distract him. Otherwise I won't be able to decorate his house." Veronica explained, as if Betty hadn't understood that already.

She sighed another time. It kind of felt like she would betray Archie by doing that, since she already suspected that he would dislike the party. She could already imagine how all of their friends would ask him about his soulmark.

"Look, I'd love to help you with your plan, but I doubt that he'd want to do anything on that day." Betty pointed out and Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Come on, B. You will find a way." Veronica begged.

Betty looked down at her hands and contemplated it. Maybe she could find some way and try to cheer him up before the party would start. This way, he could at least enjoy it a little.

"Fine, I'll do it." Betty finally said and Veronica squealed and clapped her hands.

"Thank you so much, Betty." she exclaimed and Betty had to laugh at Veronica's enthusiasm.

"So, have you thought about the guests already? Who are you going to invite?" Betty asked.

Veronica shook her head. "I haven't thought about everything yet. I just had the idea today in class." Veronica replied and tilted her head to the side.

"Let's decide now." Veronica suggested and Betty nodded slowly.

"Why not?" she murmured.

"So, I would think of Monroe, Reggie, Jughead of course, Cheryl, Toni and Kevin." Veronica said, glancing at Betty questionally.

"Maybe we should invite Josie, Valerie, Melody, Fangs and some of his football friends, too." Betty suggested and Veronica nodded immediately.

"Of course, how could I forget them?" She shook her head in disbelief.

"Don't worry about it." Betty just said.

"Is that all? It could be lame." Veronica noted and Betty shrugged.

"I'm sure if you are going to plan it, it will be fun." Betty said encouragingly and Veronica smiled gratefully. 

"That's a lot of pressure, though." she amended and Betty laughed.

***

It was late, almost midnight and it had been an exhausting day. She had handed in the homework punctual and that was all that mattered at this point.

Fortunately it was finally friday, so the next morning she could sleep as long as she wanted to.

Betty turned to the side, to close her eyes and go to sleep.

Suddenly she saw a red light dot on her wall. It disappeared after a second. She sat up slowly, narrowing her eyes. Betty rubbed her temples, to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating, when the mysterious red dot appeared again. And it disappeared immediately.

An old memory made it's way back into her mind. A memory she hasn't thought off in years and her heart skipped a beat when she realized what that was and she smiled widely.

When she and Archie were children, they once went to the store, to buy some stuff for school.

But then at the store, they had seen that the store was selling laser pointers for only a few dollars. Archie had turned around to face her and said: "If we buy these, we'll be able to communicate even when it's night time. We could just use it to call each other to our windows."

So they had bought them and it had been fun to use them. Sometimes they had even tried to write a message with that red light dot and it had been a fun way to use it. Of course they couldn't really write with a dot of light. But they could trace letters or symbols with the dot and it has always worked for them back then.

But they haven't used them in years and it was surprising Betty, to see the familiar light dot again.

Betty got up and walked over to her window. She glanced over to Archie and there he was. Betty raised an eyebrow, amused and smiling.

Archie's face lit up immediately, when he spotted her face and he disappeared from the window frame. Betty narrowed her eyes in confusion. But then she heard her phone ringing and walked to her nightstand. 

She didn't have to check the display, to know that it was Archie calling her.

"I haven't seen that light dot in years." Betty said, after picking up.

She heard Archie chuckle, but her smile disappeared when she heard his heavy breathing.

"Is everything alright?" she asked concerned.

"I couldn't sleep. There were too many things on my mind." he muttered, sounding exhausted and Betty's heart dropped.

"How can I help you?" she asked instantly and sat down onto the edge of her bed.

"You know what? I shouldn't have called, just go to sleep." he backpedaled.

"No, Arch. I was up anyways. I couldn't sleep either." she lied and she heard his sigh on the other end.

"So, what can I do to help?" she asked again.

He remained silent for a few seconds. "Could you just... talk? About anything?" he asked and Betty's expression softened.

"Of course, Arch." she replied. She opened her top drawer and rummaged through it, looking for a specific object.

She smiled widely, when she found what she'd been looking for and pulled it out.

"You know, I just found my laser pointer, too." she informed him, smiling gleefully.

She walked to her window, turned on the laser and tried to trace something like a heart on his wall.

She heard him chuckle on the other end. "Why did we stop doing that?" he asked and she smiled softly.

"I guess we just grew up. The question is, why did you start it again? I won't stop it again, now that I found mine." she quipped and traced something like a smiling face on his wall.

She heard him giving a little laugh and she smiled, relieved that he seemed to be in a better mood now. "I found mine two days ago, while I was looking for a pen in my drawer." he explained and Betty listened.

"And tonight I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to talk to you. But I didn't want to wake you by calling, so I thought it would be the best way to contact you." His voice was full of fondness and she couldn't stop smiling. Her heart was beating fast and she inhaled deeply.

Then there was silence again and she walked back to her bed and lay down on her mattress, pulling her blanket over her body.

"I couldn't sleep, because I was thinking about soulmates." he confessed and Betty's eyes widened. It wasn't like that was surprising to her, but she was surprised that he told her that.

"Could you tell me about your conception or imagination of soulmates? Maybe it will make me feel better about it." Archie asked and Betty hesitated.

But then she gave in. "Alright.", she whispered. "First of all, I think a soulmate is the person, you are "destined" to be with. I think it's someone the universe chose for us." She stopped, she must be sounding like an idiot.

"That must sound pretty stupid." she muttered.

"If anyone else had said it, I would probably agree. But somehow it sounds logical when you say it." Archie replied and Betty smiled.

"Thank you, I guess." she laughed. "Anyways, I don't know if I've ever told you, but I've wanted to find my soulmate since I was a little girl." she admitted, playing with her blanket nervously.

"I hope for you that you will." was everything he replied, but his voice was tense.

"I hope that, too. I kind of always assumed that I would." she said and looked at her lamp.

He didn't reply to that.

She should have known that this wasn't a good idea. She had to find a clever way to change the topic. Or at least, some way.

"Do you remember, when your father wanted to punish you and forbid you to see me after school for a week?" she suddenly asked, desperately trying to change the topic.

Archie snorted amused. "Yes, it was a bad week. But luckily we could communicate with the laser pointer." he muttered and Betty smiled, a little relieved.

"Those were fun times." Betty whispered and she felt like Archie was nodding.

"Well, we can bring it back." Archie suggested and she saw the light dot on her wall drawing something like a winking smiling face. 

Betty laughed at that. "That's true. I'll annoy you with it so bad, that one day you'll try to hide mine." Betty said jokingly and she heard Archie huffing out a laugh.

"I'll never be annoyed by you." he confessed and Betty laughed again.

"You must be real tired, because you're saying some weird stuff, Arch." she joked.

"I'm not." he replied, sounding almost seriously.

"I really can't imagine my life without you, Betty." Archie suddenly said and Betty's lips parted in surprise. That was a sudden change of topic.

"Well, then it's a good thing that you don't have to. Because we will be friends until we die." she declared, smiling.

"Promise?" Archie asked and Betty chuckled at how serious his words sounded.

"Promise." she replied.

"Good, because I don't even know how I'll get through the college without having you next door."

"You'll make it." Betty assured him and Archie snorted doubtfully.

"I'm not so sure." he murmured.

"Well, we can still talk to each other, and maybe visit each other a few times." Betty said, but she knew herself, it wasn't going to be the same.

In the next week Archie seemed to feel a little better, he seemed more well rested and relaxed, but still a little stressed sometimes. They had kept their promises, to bring that laser pointer thing back. It was fun and it made them feel nostalgic.

It happened quite frequently and most times they would call each other to have conversations. They mostly just talked about their days, their thoughts, the dreams they had had in the previous night or other things.

Betty enjoyed talking to him, but the next morning it was always difficult for her to get out of bed, since she wasn't used to staying up late.

She always did her best to hide her tiredness, because she knew, those conversations helped Archie with getting more sleep. And if it was helping him, she would keep doing it.

Besides, even though she was tired the next morning, those phone calls were the highlight of her day. During those calls it almost felt like she and him were the only people in the universe.

Apparently Veronica had noticed Archie's better mood, too. Because she talked to Betty about it, when they were having a girls night.

"Have you noticed, that Archie seems happier lately?" Veronica asked and eyed Betty suspiciously.

Betty's suppressed the revealing, wide smile, that threatened to appear on her lips. 

"Yeah." she simply shrugged and avoided Veronica's piercing look.

"Well, he does. And I'm wondering why." Veronica amended, still glancing at Betty.

"Maybe he'll tell us some time." Betty replied and smiled.

"How are things going between you and Jughead, by the way?" Betty asked curiously and Veronica shot her a knowing look.

"Great, actually." she replied and smiled widely. Betty smiled back. 

"Wanna give me any details?", she dug deeper and Veronica huffed out a laugh.

"Well, as you know, when I first found out that he was my soulmate I was more than just surprised. I was utterly surprised and I was already assuming, that I wouldn't end up with my soulmate, since it's Jughead and we weren't the closest of friends." Veronica said and Betty nodded understandingly.

"We seem really different, obviously. And I think in some ways we are, but he understands me in a way, no one else ever could. He balances me out, you know? And I feel like he knows how or what I'm feeling through one single look. It's the same for me. I know how or what he is feeling before he does. Sometimes it even feels like I can feel what he feels." Veronica explained and her cheeks had turned red. Betty had to smile.

"That sounds beautiful, V." Betty noted and Veronica smiled.

"It really is. And I'm so lucky, that I already knew and found my soulmate that early. Not everyone is that lucky."

"I hope I will find my soulmate early, too." Betty confessed and rested her chin on her palms. "I mean, I want to spend as much time with them as possible, you know?"

Veronica smirked and took a piece of popcorn out of the bowl they had put down. "Don't worry, B. I'm sure that one day, when we all are old, you'll be able to look back and realize how much time you actually got to spend with your soulmate." Veronica said and Betty looked at her questioningly. Veronica had said the words 'how much' in a weird tone, in a knowing way and Betty was wondering, if Veronica had implied something she had failed to notice.

"Did you imply something?" Betty asked straight up and Veronica looked at her.

"No, nothing." she replied with a sly smirk on her lips. "I just have that feeling." she amended and Betty narrowed her eyes at her.

Veronica just shrugged it off and grinned. Then she grabbed the remote. "So, what are we going to watch?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I want to say that I really appreciated all the kind comments, they really made me smile. Also, I'm sorry this upload took a little longer but well, this chapter is longer than the others and I was kind of busy. And I know, this chapter is not really spectacular and it was probably a little uninteresting (sorry about that), but I need to do some build up and hinting, so I think this is important in some ways. I hope you could enjoy this anyways. Have a great day :)
> 
> By the way, if anyone has an idea for a gift Betty could give to Archie for his birthday, feel free to write it in the comments since I don't really have an idea at the moment


	4. Chapter 4

"And you really think he'll agree to it? I mean, it would be nice, but having teenager throw a party in your house is... chaotic." Betty said and Jughead looked up from the Pop's menu, as if he didn't know it by heart already, furrowing his eyebrows at her. 

"We're talking about Mr Andrews, Betty." he pointed out and Betty rolled her eyes, even though she knew, that he had a point. Mr Andrews would do and agree to everything, as long as he believed that it could make Archie happy.

"Fine." Betty gave in. "When is Veronica coming anyways?" she asked.

Jughead looked at his watch. "She should be here in about 10 minutes."

"Fine, shall we order already? You can order for Veronica." Betty asked and Jughead agreed.

Jughead waved his hand and the new waitress came to their table.

"I'll have one chocolate and one vanilla milkshake, a cheeseburger and a basket of fries, please." Jughead said and smiled politely.

The waitress looked at Betty questioningly. "Uhm, I'll have a strawberry milkshake and some fries, please." Betty said and the waitress nodded slightly.

"Noted." she replied and smiled at them.

After she left, Betty tapped her fingers onto the table nervously. "The party is in like two weeks already, shouldn't we have started earlier with planning it?" she asked. She was used to long-term planning, so she felt a little stressed and nervous about it.

Jughead waved his hand airily. "Don't worry, Betty. Veronica has started already. She wanted this meeting mainly for presenting the things she has already planned to us." Jughead clarified and Betty sighed relieved

"Do you think Archie will like this? The party, I mean." she asked then, eyeing Jughead's face warily. 

Jughead bit his bottom lip and then shrugged slightly. "I mean, having a party with friends is better than being alone, right? It will distract him."

"You're right, I guess. It's just, he's never been so stressed out and restless. The whole soulmark and soulmate thing, Ifeel like it's torturing him." she explained. "I'm just worried about him." she mumbled and Jughead snorted amusedly. Betty glanced at him, raising an eyebrow questionally. She didn't understand, what he found amusing about her words.

"You always are." he deadpanned, looking at her expectantly and waiting for her reaction. Betty's head snapped up slightly and she glared at him and snorted.

"That's so not true." she shot back defensively. She didn't know why she was feeling so attacked by his words. Jughead looked at her with in question raised eyebrows.

Then he leaned back and crossed his arms slowly. "First of all, relax, Betty. That was not an insult, okay? Second of all, you don't even realize it, do you? You have no idea how much you actually care about him." he said dryly.

Betty narrowed her eyes at him. She had no clue, what he was trying to say or what he was talking about. But he was implying something, which she could see in his eyes. And it bugged her, that she didn't know, what.

"I care about all of you, actually." she clarified. Jughead rolled his eyes at that, as if she had said something extremely stupid. "What are you even trying to say with 'how much I actually care about him' anyways?" she asked, a little exasperated.

Jughead huffed out a laugh and Betty furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm just trying to say, you haven't even realized, that you care about him not only as a normal friend, but more."

Betty's jaw dropped slightly and for a second she felt a little dizzy. Her mouth felt dry and she furrowed her eyebrows even more. She didn't understand why she was feeling like this. She should be laughing at the ridiculousness of Jughead's statement, but she couldn't bring herself to laugh. And surprisingly, she couldn't bring herself to deny it either.

She swallowed. "What are you talking about?" she asked dumbly.

Jughead raised an eyebrow. "I'm not saying you're in love with him or anything, or maybe you are, who knows. Just that you might haven't realized what you're feeling for him yet."

Betty's heart hammered in her chest, most likely from anger. "It's totally normal to worry and care about your best friend without being in love with them or something like that. And well, Archie happens to be my best friend." she said through gritted teeth.

"So do I and Veronica, right? Yet you care and worry about him not only more, but also in a different way." Jughead pointed out and Betty opened her mouth to reply, but she didn't know what she could say. She had never seen it or thought about it that way, but she knew that he had a point, even though she wasn't going to admit it to him.

Fortunately, Veronica's arrival saved her and she sat down next to Jughead. "Hey, you two." she greeted them, smiling widely. Betty calmed down almost immediately.

Veronica gave Jughead a brief kiss and Betty turned away, to give them some privacy. Her thoughts drifted away to Jughead's words. But she didn't have much time to think about them.

"So, as I expected, Mr Andrews thought it was a great idea and he said he could stay with his friend for the weekend. Which means, we'll have the house to ourselves." Veronica exclaimed with a triumphant smile on her face. Jughead and Veronica beamed at each other and Betty smiled at them awkwardly. She felt a little like a third wheel.

In that moment the waitresw appeared and put their orders on their table. "Thank you." Betty said and Jughead and Veronica repeated her words.

The waitress smiled. "Enjoy your meal." she said and left again.

Betty took a sip of her milkshake and ate one of her fries. Jughead had devoted his attention to his cheeseburger and Betty smirked. "So, what's there left to plan?" Betty drawled.

"Not a lot of things, fortunately. First of all, have you asked Archie about hanging out already?" Veronica asked and ate one of her fries.

Betty shook her head. "Not yet, I think it will be less suspicious, if I ask him to do somethig spontaneously." Betty replied and Verona nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you're right. But remember, the whole party depends on your success in getting him out of his house." Veronica said and eyed Betty in a serious way. Betty almost laughed at how ridiculous she looked.

Jughead stole one of Veronica's fries and Betty had to grin. Jughead winked at her and she grinned even wider.

"I'll do my best." Betty promised and Veronica nodded, satisfied with Betty's answer. "By the way, when will you guys be done with decorating?"

Veronica tilted her head to the side, thinking. "You two can come around 7 pm." she replied.

"Alright." she drawled.

Veronica reached into her purse and pulled out a notebook, which she placed in front of her. She opened it and Betty saw, that Veronica had made a check list. "Great. Next point would be guests. I've send out the invitations and Fangs was the only one who declined. He said he was going to visit his sister that weekend." Veronica informed them and Betty sighed.

The three of them planned as much as possible for now and finish their lunch together. Betty was the first one to leave.

It wasn't that late yet, and Betty wondered about what to do with her free time. Most of her homework was already finished and if she was being honest, she also wasn't in the mood for doing homework. She breathed in some air and felt herself relax a little, even though shw hadn't felt stressed before.

The streets were quite empty, but it was a sunday, so that was kind of normal. Everything looked peaceful and Betty smiled widely.

Suddenly Jughead's words came back into her mind. 'Yet you care and worry about him in another way.' She hadn't gotten the chance to deny that or reply something to that.

But now that she was alone and had time to think about it, she would have been lying if she had said that it wasn't true. She did care and worry about Archie differently than about Jughead and Veronica, even though she hadn't realized it or admitted it to herself before.

Jughead even thought, that she could be in love with Archie. She inhaled deeply and shook her head slightly. She wasn't in love with Archie, he was just her best friend. At least that was, what she tried to convince herself of. 

Besides, being in love with Archie would just cause a lot of problems. First of all, it would be one-sided and apart from that, Betty wanted to be% with her soulmate, who was certainly not Archie Andrews.

She sighed, trying to get those thoughts out of her head. They were annoying her.

She simply couldn't deny, that Jughead did have a point when he had said that she cared about Archie differently than about any other person in this world. But Betty was scared of what that could mean.

She shook her head slightly and rubbed her temples. Instead, she tried to think about what gift she could get Archie for his birthday. 

To be honest, at the moment she had no good ideas. She wanted to get him something special and personal that would make him happy. But Betty knew, finding something like that was going to be difficult and challenging.

She groaned exhausted and ran her fingers through her hair. Somehow she felt weirdly upset, even though she had actually had a good day. Still, she was relieved when she saw her house and she started walking faster.

She really felt like talking to Archie, but she wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Not after what Jughead's words had made her feel like. She knew, it wasn't a good idea to talk to Archie tonight.

And that was why she ignored the red light dot that night, when she was lying in her bed and she just turned away, waiting for it to stop appearing.

***

"Hey, are you alright?" Archie called out to her and Betty's heartbeat increased for some reason. She was extremely surprised, to hear his voice. She stopped walking, turning around to face him. 

She could tell, that he wasn't at his best condition. The rings under his eyes had darkened and deepened and a feeling of guilt welled up in her chest. His birthday was really soon and she knew that he was probably restless and maybe even terrified.

But she had still ignored his laser pointer lights which she regretted now. But at the same time she knew, that she had needed this distance simply because she didn't wanted to face him and think about Jughead's words.

Besides, in college she wouldn't be next door anymore and there wouldn't be any way for him to check if she was free to talk. Her eyes widened, when she realized what she could get him for his birthday.

Archie stopped a few steps away from her and looked at her concerned. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she asked, avoiding to look into his eyes. Instead she focused on the hem of her shirt, smiling because she had finally found a gift.

She would have to order it later, but she was convinced that he'd like it.

"Were you avoiding me? Did I do something wrong?" he asked and Betty could hear how worried he was. Her head snapped up and she looked into his eyes. He looked tired and stressed out and she felt a little guilty about it. She had known, that he was fearing his birthday and still, she had decided to ignore him because of Jughead Jones.

She had kept ignoring his laser pointer dots, simply because she had felt like keep doing it would prove, that Jughead had been right. And she couldn't bear his words to be proven as right.

"No, of course not. I'm sorry, I was just busy with school stuff." she mumbled, trying to sound as convincing as possible. Judging from Archie's expression, she had failed terrible with that. He didn't look convinced at all.

But luckily he didn't dig deeper and just joined her on her way out of school, so they could walk home together.

"Do you have any plans for today?" he asked and watched her from the side.

Betty shrugged merely. "Not really, maybe I'll just watch a movie or some tv shows." she replied and Archie nodded shortly.

"Sounds great." Betty laughed dryly, since he was obviously lying. He shrugged. "I'm being honest." he said, but he was grinning weakly.

"And what about you? Do you have any plans?" she asked curiously.

Archie shook his head and looked at the floor. "I will cook dinner, since my dad has a long shift today." Suddenly his expression darkened slightly. 

"What's wrong?" Betty asked alarmed and watched him worriedly. He hadn't looked happy before, but now he was just looking miserable.

"Uh nothing, I just remembered something." he assured her. "Do you know what? My dad told me this morning that he'll have to leave town next weekend for some meeting and that's kind of disappointing." he muttered.

Betty gulped nervously and turned her head away from him. Next weekend was Archie's birthday and it didn't surprise her that Fred had come up with something. She was just feeling sorry for Archie. He had to be thinking that his father would be leaving him on such an important day for something like a meeting.

"I'm so sorry, Arch." she said sympathetically and Archie gave her a weak smile, that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"It's fine." he said, but Betty could see in his eyes, that it wasn't. And she understood him. Of course he was sad, but because he was Archie, of course he was trying to hide it. 

He rarely showed his emotions, never wanting to burden the people around him, but when he did, it was mostly around Betty. At that thought she had to smile fondly, even though that smile didn't fit this conversation at all. So she hid it immediately.

Then Jughead's words came back into her mind and she gulped again and shook her head slightly. She and Archie were best friends since they were children and nothing more, it was normal to show emotions around your best friend.

"Hey, I can help you with making dinner if you want." she offered. "I'm sure it's gonna be fun. And until it's time for dinner, we can watch a tv show." she amended.

Archie looked at her, and she could see that he was wondering if she meant what she said. "Are you sure? You're really volunteering for cooking with me?" he asked doubtfully and Betty grinned.

"I am. It will be fun." she said convinced.

Archie smiled a little and nodded. "That sounds great." he replied and Betty's grin widened even more and so did Archie's smile.

"Do you know what we're making yet?" she asked then.

"I'm craving for some homemade pizza." Archie answered and Betty nodded briefly.

"Alright, do you have all the ingredients at home? Or do we have to go to the supermarket?" she asked.

Archie tilted his head, thinking about it. He shook his head. "I think we have everything at home." he responded and Betty smiled.

For the rest of their way to his house, they talked about how everything would change, when they would go to college. 

She felt like they had talked about it a thousand times already, but it still hit her everytime they did, that they would be separated for the first time in their lives. 

She'd never been separated from Archie before. The only time they almost were separated was in second grade, when Archie almost didn't pass. But even then they found a way to prevent it, this time they wouldn't.

Archie had always been by her side, since they were four years old and her heart ached at the thought, that that would change really soon. And she knew and felt, that he was feeling the same way when he thought about it.

They arrived at his doorstep and he was pulling his keys out of his pocket and she watched his face carefully. He looked tired, but at least his facial features seemed relaxed.

He turned his head towards her and gave her a little smile, before opening the door. "Here we are." he said and Betty smiled, entering the house after him.

"So, what do you want to do now? We still have some time." Archie asked, turning around to face her.

She shrugged and put her bag on the floor. Archie did the same. "We could do homework and after that we can watch something on Netflix." Betty suggested.

Archie nodded and smiled at her. Betty couldn't but smile back. A weird fluttering feeling welled up in her stomach and she quickly turned away, to pull her books out of her bag. She hated Jughead in that moment. He was the reason for her feelings being so stirred up and confused.

They finished their homework within an hour and Archie was already reaching for the remote to turn on the tv and open Netflix.

She got up from her spot on the floor to sit onto the couch. "What are we watching?" she asked and looked at the screen.

Archie sighed. "I have no idea, to be honest." he replied and Betty sighed too.

"As usual." she mumbled and watched Archie scrolling through the different tv shows and movies.

"We could watch that." Betty said then and pointed at a baking show called 'Sugar Rush'. 

Archie turned his head into her direction and raised an amused eyebrow at her. She laughed and shrugged. "I just think itcould be enjoyable." she laughed and Archie shook his head, smiling.

"Alright, I'll trust you with that." He clicked onto it and started the first episode.

The first challenge was to make cupcakes and Archie skeptically looked at the woman putting the baking tray into the oven.

"Bacon in a cupcake recipe?" Archie deadpanned and Betty laughed, at his dry tone. 

"Don't judge, maybe it's good." Betty argued and Archie shook his head again.

Then he scoffed. "I really can't imagine any of those cupcakes actually tasting good. I mean, especially since bacon is so salty."

"Sadly, we'll never try cupcakes with bacon." she joked and Archie giggled.

"I wouldn't be too excited to try them anyways. I imagine them gross." he said and Betty grinned. Suddenly she had an idea and grinned mischievously. She would have to call Veronica later. that day.

Watching a baking show with Archie was really fun. They made comments about the interesting recipes and creations and Betty has to laugh at the face Archie pulled when he saw how the team put the bacon slices on top of the buttercream.

"The challenges aren't bad, actually they are really creative, but imagine having to come up with an idea for them in only a few minutes." Betty mumbled fascinated.

"Yep, imagine us two in a baking show. It would be an absolute mess." Archie quipped and Betty bit on her lip to suppress her laugh.

"Yes, definitely. We would manage to burn down the whole kitchen." she amended and Archie laughed wholeheartedly.

After a while he said: "You know what? I'd prefer to see much more of the actual baking process and see more of the ingredients and techniques."

Betty nodded. "Yes, me too. Besides, wouldn't it be better to try every team's cupcakes at once? Comparing their looks would be much easier."

Archie giggled. "You sound like a true pro." Betty snickered at that and they focused on the show again.

"American baking shows are kind of funny but weird at the same time." Betty drawled and Archie looked at her, grinning.

"You know, what the worst thing is?"

She looked at him questioningly. "No, what?" she asked.

"Watching baking shows together will be our new thing." Archie claimed, looking at her deadly serious.

Betty laughed at his expression and Archie joined in. "Alright." she drawled then and got up from the couch, stretching her limbs a little.

"We should probably start with the pizza dough. When it rises, we can continue watching." she suggested and Archie got up, too.

"Yes, sir." he quipped and Betty nudged his arm gently with her arm.

"You're ridiculous." she said, but she had a wide smile on her face.

They walked into the kitchen and Betty leaned against the counter to look for a dough recipe on the internet, while Archie took out the ingredients and a kitchen scale and bowls for mixing.

"Here's the recipe." she said and handed her phone over to him. Archie grabbed it and skimmed it quickly with his eyes.

"Sounds good, I guess." he replied and beamed at her. She smiled back and she felt like her heart just made a little leap. She cursed silently and turned away from him immediately. In that moment she was incredibly mad at Jughead, for what he said and making her feeling confused.

"I'll weigh the flour." Archie said enthusiastically and put the bowl onto the scale, before turning it on. He took the bag of flour and before Betty could warn him, he turned over the bag and dumped a ton of flour into the bowl.

A cloud of flour lulled them in and Betty accidentally breathed in some flour, causing her to cough a little. The same thing happened to Archie and Betty had to laugh.

After a few seconds the kitchen became clear again and when she glimpsed at Archie, she burst out laughing. He had flour on his face and in his hair and he looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Whoops, should've seen that coming." he commented and Betty laughed even more.

Suddenly he stepped closer to her and wiped his thumb over her cheek. Her breath hitched and she inhaled sharply. Her heart beat so fast, she was scared he could hear it. For a few seconds, it felt like the world stopped spinning. Like everything was frozen in time.

She felt like something in the air shifted and like the air was fizzling.

"You had some flour there." he whispered and she could feel his breath against her mouth. He looked into her eyes with a soft smile on his lips.

They were standing way closer than before and Betty knew, standing this close to him with his hand on her cheek, in her current state was a bad idea. Still, she couldn't bring herself to take a step back.

As if he had read her mind he took his hand off her cheek slowly and let it fall back to his side. Hecleared his throat and slightly shook his head.

"And you have flour like everywhere." she whispered out of breath and Archie laughed roughly. 

He wiped his hands over his face and looked back at her. "Better?" Betty still felt a little dizzy from that weird moment, but looking at him made her feel more sober and she grinned.

"Yes, much better." she lied.

Archie scoffed. "Liar." he exclaimed and Betty laughed.

"I'm not lying." she said and before she knew what was happening, Archie had thrown a handful of flour at her.

For a moment she was standing there, frozen in her movement and staring at him, her mouth agape. Archie giggled sheepishly and Betty got over her shock.

And then it got messy. She grabbed some flour and dumped it on his head and in the next moment they were having a whole flour fight and them chasing each other around the kitchen. Betty felt lightheaded and like a child again. The flour fight ended with Archie dumping the rest of the flour, that was still in the bag on her head while she squealed, trying to escape him.

"That looks quite interesting." Fred suddenly said and Betty's and Archie's heads whipped into Fred's direction. He had appeared in the doorframe and Betty's eyes widened.

They had to look ridiculous, since Fred could barely hide his grin. "Dad, you're home early." Archie noted and Fred's grin widened.

"Yeah, my shift ended earlier." he explained and leaned against the doorframe, looking at Betty and Archie, who were covered in flour.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Betty bit on her lip, to stop herself from laughing at this situation. "We were making dough for pizza." Archie mumbled and Betty could tell from his tone, that he was suppressing a laugh too.

"I see how that turned out." Fred noted and Betty and Archie exchanged a look.

"Maybe we should just order some." Fred suggested and Archie nodded quickly.

"You're eating with us, right?" Archie asked, looking at her.

Betty glanced at Fred and he gave her a welcoming smile. "Of course she is." he said and Betty smiled slightly.

"Thank you, we'll clean the kitchen while waiting." she said and Fred smiled.

"Good, I'm ordering." Fred said and left. He didn't have to ask for their orders, this wasn't the first time the three of them ate pizza together. They always ordered a vegetable üizza, a peperoni one and a cheese pizza.

"I'll get the broom and the hand brush." Betty said, but Archie grabbed her wrist to stop her.

Her wrist prickled, where his fingers touched her skin and she startled. He immediately took his hand away and frowned a little. "I'll do that." he assured her and before she could argue he had already left the kitchen to get them. 

She waited for him to come back and shook some flour out of her hair and tried to shake some off her clothes. It didn't help much, though. She also texted her mother, that she was going to have dinner with Archie and his father.

When Archie came back with hand brush and broom, he hesitated. "I can clean up by myself, since I started the fight. You can go up and clean your face or something like that." he said and Betty raised an eyebrow.

"No way." she said. "We fought together, we'll clean up together." she stated sheepishly. Archie grinned and held out the broom for her. She grabbed it and started cleaning up the kitchen floor.

They were done after 15 minutes and Betty put the flour Archie had dumped into the bowl back into the bag and placed the bag back in it's original place.

The doorbell rang and Archie's face lit up and Betty smiled at that. Fred answered the door and came into the kitchen with three pizza boxes.

He let his eyes wander through the kitchen and smiled satisfied. "It looks good." he said and Betty smiled.

"We'll set the table." she stated and she and Archie started to take out plates, glasses, forks and knifes to place them on the table in the dining room. She figured that putting knife and fork on the table wasn't that necessary, since they always ended up with their hands anyway.

Fred came in with the pizzas, that he had put on plates and placed them on the table. They sat down silently and Fred turned on some music, so it wouldn't be too quiet.

"Enjoy your dinner." Fred said, smirking and placed a slice of vegetable pizza on his plate.

"Thanks." Betty and Archie said and took slices of pizza too.

"So, how was school today?" Fred asked and Betty smiled. It was the typical question.

"Alright, nothing special." Archie replied and focused on his pizza slice.

Fred grinned. "Sounds great." he quipped and Betty smiled.

"So, when are you leaving next saturday?" Archie asked and Betty's head snapped around to look at him. He was staring intensely on his pizza slice, his jaw was locked and his hand was clenched to a fist around the fork in his hand.

Betty felt incredibly sorry for him and she wished that she could tell him, why Fred was actually leaving. She reached out to squeeze Archie's knee and his eyes locked with hers.

She gave him a little smile and she noticed how he breathed in silently and his jaw unlocked and his clenched fist relaxed a little. She took her hand off his knee and Archie looked at his father again.

Fred gulped and Betty could tell, how sorry Fred was feeling. She gave him a sympathetic look. "Around 3 pm." Fred replied. "I'm sorry, son. I tried to cancel it but it was impossible. I'll be back before lunchtime the next day, though." he added and Archie just nodded shortly.

Betty could tell, that he was still a little disappointed and bitter, but he seemed to understand.

Archie was pretty quiet for the rest of the dinner and Fred and Betty kept up a conversation about what she was planning for the time after graduation.

She hadn't been sure about that for a long time, but she wanted to help people and she had decided, that she wanted to become a doctor. 

After dinner she and Archie helped Fred with putting the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaning the dining table. Fred quickly said goodbye and went to bed, since he had had a long day and was tired.

Betty turned around to Archie and saw his painful expression, but when he saw that she was watching him he changed it so quickly, that she wasn't even sure whether she had just imagined it or not.

"Are you alright?" she asked worried and stepped a few steps closer towards him.

He nodded quickly and gave her a tiny smile, but it didn't look real. There was something torturing him deep inside and Betty had an assumption about what it was.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?" she asked and looked into his eyes, just so he knew that she really meant it. Because she did. No matter what, Archie Andrews could always rely on her, no matter what. And she knew that she could always rely on him too. Nothing could ever separate them, that was what she believed in.

He tilted his head slightly and looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite place. It was something between painful and fond at the same time and Betty hadn't even known, that a mix of these were possible.

"I haven't been there lately, but I was just having some problems." she hesitated, technically that wasn't a lie. "But I am now. You can ALWAYS talk to me." she insisted and he closed his eyes and smiled a little.

When he opened them and looked at her, the painful expression was gone and she felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest. He took a few steps closer to her and pulled her into his arms tightly. She wrapped his arms around him and felt how he buried his face in the crook of her neck. She buried hers in his shoulder and breathed in his scent.

"I know, and you have no idea how much I appreciate you for that." he mumbled into her neck and Betty smiled softly into his shoulder. The fluttering feeling in her stomach was there again, but right now she didn't really care. He stepped back and she cleared her throat slightly.

"Wanna watch another episode Sugar Rush?" he asked and Betty glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Actually I'd love to. But I think I have to go home." she sighed and looked back at Archie. He nodded disappointed and pushed himself off the kitchen counter to follow her into the living room. She gathered her belongings and he accompanied her to the door.

"Thank you." he suddenly said and Betty raises an eyebrow questionally.

"For being there." he amended and she smiled widely.

"Always." she replied and for a moment they just smiled at each other. Then she took a few steps back and waved slightly. He waved back and she turned away from him to go to her house.

She made sure Archie had closed the door and couldn't hear or see her anymore when she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

She looked for the gift she had had in mind for Archie's birthday and ordered it quickly. She just hoped that that gift could give him some comfort when he was in college and they would be separated.

Then she clicked on Veronica's number to call her.

"Hey B, what's up?" Veronica greeted, when she picked up the phone.

Betty was relieved, that Veronica had picked up. "Hey V, there is a request I have, regarding Archie's birthday party." Betty said, with a smug grin on her lips.

"Sounds interesting. Tell me." Veronica replied.

"Could you get some cupcakes with bacon on top or something like that?" Betty asked and she was troubling with suppressing her laughter. Archie's reaction could be hilarious.

"Uhm, yeah sure. The bakery makes some with bacon which is glazed in maple syrup. Would you like that?" Veronica asked and Betty could hear how confused she was.

"Any kind works, they should just have some bacon." Betty replied.

"Okay good, I'll order them." Veronica drawled. "Is there any specific reason for that request?"

Betty smiled and looked down at her shoe. "Nope, I just think Archie would love to try them." she replied and looked at the night sky with a huge smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this took so long, but school is keeping me quite busy and I don't really find the time to write anymore. Anyways, I hope you could enjoy this chapter and I also hope, that I will be able to finish the next chapter soon.


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